Copeland was ordered to have the scroll dispatched to the American Embassy in Beirut, after which it was flown to the United States. … It has never been seen again.… Why was the scroll never seen again? Well, that’s the mystery that still remains to be resolved.
Area 51 The Revealing Truth of Ufos, Secret Aircraft, Cover-Ups & Conspiracies
Realizing that what had fallen into his lap was of profound, archaeological significance, Copeland had a mountain of questions for the shadowy man who turned up so mysteriously. The man was having none of it, however, and left the building, vanishing into the midday throng, but that was only the beginning of the puzzle. With two colleagues, Copeland headed to the roof of the embassy, unrolled the parchment, and carefully photographed every section of it.
Unfortunately, some of the scroll was lost as a wind blew in, carrying fragmented portions off the roof. According to Copeland, close to three dozen photos were taken. Copeland was convinced that what he had seen was a Dead Sea Scroll, a previously unknown one. Then, when he told CIA headquarters of what had just gone down, something very intriguing occurred.
Copeland was ordered to have the scroll dispatched to the American Embassy in Beirut, after which it was flown to the United States and handed over to senior personnel at CIA headquarters. It has never been seen again—at least not outside of officialdom. Why was the scroll never seen again? Well, that’s the mystery that still remains to be resolved.
Just like the maniacal Hitler himself, a significant body of high-ranking Nazis, such as Richard Walther Darré, Rudolf Hess, Otto Rahn, and Heinrich Himmler, had major, unsettling obsessions with matters of a supernatural and mystical nature.
Rahn, for example, who made his mark in a wing of Nazi Germany’s greatly feared SS, spent a significant period of time deeply engaged in a quest to find the so-called Holy Grail, which, according to Christian teachings, was the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the legendary Last Supper.
The fact that the grail was said to possess awesome and devastating powers spurred the Nazis on even more in their attempts to locate it, then utilize those same powers as weapons of war against the Allies. Thankfully, the plans of the Nazis did not come to fruition, and the Allies were not pummeled into the ground by the mighty fists of God.
Acknowledged by many historians as being the ultimate driving force behind such research, Heinrich Himmler was, perhaps, the one high-ranking official in the Third Reich, more than any other, most obsessed with the occult. In 1935, Himmler became a key player in the establishment of the Ahnenerbe, which was basically the ancestral heritage division of the SS. With its work largely coordinated according to the visions of one Dr.
Hermann Wirth, the chief motivation of the Ahnenerbe was to conduct research into the realm of religious-themed archaeology; however, its work also spilled over into areas such as the occult—the latter primarily from the perspective of determining if it was a tool that, like the Holy Grail, could be used to further strengthen the Nazi war machine. Now, having demonstrated that yes, government agencies do take an interest in ancient mysteries, let’s return to that strange tale of Area 51 and the Spear of Destiny.
Trevor Ravenscroft’s 1973 book The Spear of Destiny detailed a particularly odd fascination that Adolf Hitler had with the fabled spear, or lance, that supposedly pierced the body of Jesus during the crucifixion. Ravenscroft’s book maintained that Hitler deliberately started the Second World War with the intention of trying to secure the spear—again as a weapon to be used against the Allies—with which he was said to be overwhelmingly obsessed.
The account went, however, that Hitler utterly failed. Ravenscroft suggested that as the conflict of 1939–1945 came to its end, the spear came into the hands of U.S. general George Patton. According to legend, losing the spear would result in nothing less than death—a prophecy that that was said to have been definitively fulfilled when Hitler, fortunately for the Allies, committed suicide.
Is it possible that at some point after the construction of Area 51, the spear was transferred to what is without doubt one of the world’s most secure government facilities? Well, yes, it is possible if you buy into the story told in the SyFy Channel’s series Legend Quest, but many did not buy into it, not at all.
The show first aired on July 13, 2011, and starred Ashley Cowie and Kinga Philipps. Each week saw the adventurous and intrepid pair heading off in search of mysteries ancient and enigmatic. Those expeditions saw them looking for the staff of Moses, Solomon’s ring, the truth behind Merlin the legendary magician, King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, and the Spear of Destiny.
Each episode began with the same words from Cowie: “My name is Ashley Cowie. I’m an author and archaeologist explorer specializing in ancient symbols and mysterious legends. I’ve spent years studying some of the world’s most fascinating relics. Now I’m on the hunt to find where they are. Some would hope that these secrets remain hidden but I’ll leave no stone unturned to uncover the truth in my legend quest.” It was in episode three—broadcast on July 27, 2011—that the tale of Area 51 and the Holy Lance appeared. Viewers were intrigued by claims from an unidentified whistle-blower that yes, the spear was indeed housed at Area 51, so Cowie and Philipps head out to the base, hoping to find some kind of evidence.
Exactly what they thought they might find is anyone’s guess. Of course, they don’t get in, and the story is the nonstarter that many may have suspected it to be. Worse, what was supposed to have been one of several real gates that pepper the area before one faces arrest and jail time was nothing of the sort. It was actually filmed elsewhere. Reviews of the series online are not glowing or positive. It’s unfortunate that fakery was afoot in the show: as we have seen time and again, legitimate mysteries are attached to Area 51, but fabricating a story concerning Area 51 only serves to make the legitimate material seem more questionable. In that sense, Legend Quest, in its fictionalized format, did more damage than good.